Leonardo retains title belief

Inter Milan coach Leonardo believes his team can still win the Scudetto despite falling nine points adrift of Serie A leaders and great rivals AC Milan.

The Nerazzurri lost ground on Milan with last weekend's 3-1 defeat at Udinese,
a result that snapped a five-match winning streak. Milan, meanwhile, continued their unbeaten run this year with a 2-0 triumph over Cesena.

"Consistency is the most difficult thing in sports,'' Leonardo said. "You can lose a game but the important thing is to control the situation after a defeat. Our loss in Udine is not crucial for the league title.

"Our aim was to start well after the winter break in order to be in the group of teams that will fight for the scudetto and we are among those sides. In the long run, all the other teams will also lose games.''

Inter host Palermo on Sunday knowing that a defeat could see them drop from the
top six.

Palermo lie one point behind Inter, who are fifth - level on 35 points with
Juventus - but have a game in hand.

The Nerazzurri will be without suspended trio Christian Chivu, Dejan Stankovic
and Ivan Cordoba this weekend.

Milan visit strugglers Catania looking to maintain their four-point lead at the
top of the standings.

New signings Mark van Bommel and Urby Emanuelson are expected to make their
Serie A debuts in Sicily this weekend with Gennaro Gattuso, Clarence Seedorf and
Alessandro Nesta out injured.

Walter Mazzarri's Napoli, who trail Milan by four points, host Sampdoria with
both teams looking to bounce back from their midweek eliminations from the Coppa
Italia.

Napoli lost on penalties to Inter while Samp went down to a 2-1 defeat against
Milan.

A Napoli defeat would see in-form Roma leapfrog them into second place if
capital club comes defeats Bologna.

Lazio are in fourth place and go into Saturday's game against Fiorentina with
just one win from their last four games.

Valon Behrami will make his Viola debut against his former club having joined
from West Ham this week.

Juventus will be put to the test when they host red-hot Udinese, who beat Inter
3-1 having previously won 4-2 at Genoa.

Strugglers Cesena will have plenty of motivation to win at Lecce as it would
see them climb away from the drop zone.

Lecce currently hold the last position of safety but they are only a point
clear of Sunday's rivals.

Genoa and Parma will battle it out at the Luigi Ferraris stadium with both
teams looking to pull further away from the relegation zone.

Chievo visit lowly Brescia on Sunday hoping to clinch their first win since
November 21, while rock-bottom Bari visit Cagliari desperate to stop the rot.

Giampiero Ventura's men have lost their last three league games and have won
just once in 16 matches.